Navy Boxing Team vs Baltimore Card is Frustrating for Midshipmen

byCollege BoxeronJanuary 28, 2012

Midshipman third class Lonero staggered Logan Trout of Baltimore with a straight right hand in the first round then proceeded to pound his opponent for all three rounds of their 165-pound bout. A fan in the audience, one of many who booed the first two results, was overheard saying “if Navy loses this one I’m leaving.”

Members of the Naval Academy boxing team got an introduction into street-style boxing last night at Michael’s Eighth Avenue as part of a 16-fight card put together by promoter Jake “The Snake” Smith and his Baltimore Boxing organization.

Out of eight Navy fighters to take part in the event, only Lonero and heavyweights Ethan Pellman and Nate Jester managed to come away with victories. However, head coach Jim McNally thought at least four of his boxers got short-changed by split decisions.

“It was a frustrating night. I don’t think the judging was too good, but that’s boxing,” McNally said. “I felt our guys out-boxed their opponents, but these city kids hit harder and were real aggressive and that seemed to be what the judges were looking for.”

Smith had dubbed the event “Navy versus Baltimore” and told the audience before the card began that they were going to see a bunch of “knockdown, drag-out wars.” That certainly was the case for most of the night with Pellman and fellow midshipman Jake Tenorio engaging in two of the fiercest fights.

Pellman was hit by a hard left hook in the first round, but regrouped and gradually took over his heavyweight bout with P.J. Prauss. The tall, lanky junior from Pennsylvania floored Prauss with a right uppercut in the second round then battered him around the ring in the third round to score a unanimous decision.

“We’re taught in practice to go hard from start to finish. If you get knocked down, you’ve got to get back up and keep fighting,” Pellman said. “This was a great experience and I learned a lot.”

Tenorio and Jerome Featherstone engaged in a brutal all-out brawl with both boxers landing some vicious blows. It was a physical fight with a lot of pushing and shoving that could have gone either way. Tenorio, a senior from Guam who is a two-time brigade boxing champion, made a major mistake by dropping his gloves and stopping fighting because his opponent’s headgear had come loose.

“Don’t worry about him!” McNally screamed at Tenorio, who got drilled with a combination while motioning to the referee to halt the fight so Featherstone could fix his headgear. Featherstone wound up being awarded a split decision, another result McNally thought should have gone the other way.Senior heavyweight Nate Jester, also a two-time brigade champ, put forth a dominant performance in winning a unanimous decision over Jeff Baker. McNally said Jester “pummeled his opponent from ring post to ring post.”

Navy, a club boxing program, normally participates in matches sanctioned by the National Collegiate Boxing Association. However, the Midshipmen are allowed 10 matches per year against non-collegiate competition and McNally likes the idea of having his boxers go against amateur fighters who often have more fights under their belts.

“College boxing is designed for novice boxers, beginners,” McNally said. “Some of these boxers we’ll see tonight may have 30 or 40 fights. It’s a great opportunity for our guys to get experience against top-flight competition.”